Sewing machine



June 24, 1947. c, 5 E

SEWING MACHINE, Filed'June 18,.1945

iuwwg% gt 2M" Patented June 24, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SEWING MACHINE Clarence S. Best, Belvidere, Ill., assignor to National Sewing Machine Company, Belvidere; Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application June 18, 1945, Ser ial No. 600,127 6 Claims. (Cl. 1 12237) This invention relates to improvements in sewing machines, and particularly to presser foot actuating means located for convenient use by the operator.

It is old in the art to raise and lower the presser foot of a sewing machine by mechanism actuated by a lever located at the rear of the sewing head. This arrangement has proven objectionable because of the inaccessibility of the operating lever and the fact that it is not visible to the operator. Another objection is the fact that the space occupied by the lever at the rear of the head is required for other essential purposes.

The object of this invention is to provide presser foot actuating means located either on the inner side wall or on the front wall of the sewing head, easy to operate, readily visible and accessible to the operator.

Another object is to modernize and streamline the appearance of the sewing head by eliminating protruding levers of the type used for actuating presser bars, usually located at the rear of the sewing head.

Another object is to make simpler and more efficient the operative parts between the presser bar and the manually actuated control means.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view of the sewing head of a conventional sewing machine provided with a turn button located on the inner side wall of the head for manually actuating the presser foot.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the end of the head shown in Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale, with the cover removed, showing the mechanism operated by the button for-actuating the presser foot.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of part of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2, in a different position.

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of a modification of the invention, in which the sewing machine is provided with a turn button located on the front wall of the head for manually actuating the presser foot.

Fig. 5 is a perspective'view of the mechanism in the head of the machine shown in Fig. 4.

A conventional sewing machine such as is illustrated in the drawings, includes the bed plate It, upright standard ll, overhanging arm l2, sewing head l3, presser foot l4, presser bar [5, presser bar spring l6 and cage or bearing member I1, the latter being fixed on, or having limited longitudinal movement relatively to and movable with the presser bar.

In that embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the presser foot l4 and bar 55 areactuatedby a turn button l8 located on the inner side wall of the sewing head I3. The button I8 has a shank Hi to which is fixedly connected the link 20, and the link 2|] is connected by a pivot member 2| to a link 22. The latter is pivotally connected at 23 to the cam 24. The cam is eccentrically mounted on the fixed frame member l3 by the screw or pivot member 25.

The cam 24 bears against the under side of the spring pressed cage l'l through which extends the presser bar l5 as is well understood in the art. When the button [8 is turned to a predetermined position, namely, that intended for raising the presser foot, the cam 24 raises the cage ll, compressing the spring [6, as shown in Fig. 3, and with it raises the presser bar l5. When the button is turned in the opposite direction, to lower the presser foot, the mechanism assumes the position shown in Fig. 2, with the cage l'l resting on the low side of the cam 24.

In the modified form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, the presser bar actuating member 26 is located on the front wall of the head 13. The button 26 is fixed on the shaft 21 which extends transversely of the machine, its inner end being fixedly connected at 28 to a link 29, and the link 29 is pivotally connected by a pin 30 to a link 3|. The link 3i is pivotally connected to the cam 32 which is connected by a pivot screw or pin 33 to a fixed part of the frame l3.

The cam 32 is located beneath the spring pressed cage l'l associated with the presser bar I5. When the button 26 is turned in one direction, namely, that intended for raising the presser foot, it raises the cage l'l, compressing the spring l5, and with it raises the presser bar l5. When the button 26 is turned in the opposite direction for the purpose of lowering the presser foot, the cam is moved to a position wherein the cage [1 rests on the low side of said cam 32, as shown in Fig. 5.

The numeral 34 indicates a bearing support for the presser bar.

Changes may be made in the form and details of construction shown herein, without departing from the scope of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a sewing machine including a sewing head, presser foot, presser bar and cam-bearing means on the bar, means for actuating the presser bar to raise and lower the foot, said means comprising a rotatable control member located on the sewing head in a position visible to the operator from the front of the machine, a pair of links pivotally connected together, one of said links being fixedly connected to the rotatable control member, and a cam pivotally connected to a fixed part of the sewing head, the other of said links being pivotally connected to said cam, said cam being mounted to-bear against the under side of said bearing means and adapted to lift the bearing means and presser bar when said control member is rotated to a predetermined position.

2. The presser bar actuating means defined by claim 1, in which the rotatable control member is mounted on the inner side wall of the sewing head.

3. The presser bar actuating means defined by claim 1, in which the rotatable control member is mounted on the front wall of the sewing head.

4. A sewing machine comprising a sewing head, a presser foot, 2. presser bar mounted inthe head, bearing means on the presser bar, a device for lifting the presser bar rotatably mounted on the inside of the sewing head in juxtaposition to 4 the presser bar and bearing means, a rotatable control member mounted on the sewing head in a position visible to the operator from the front of the machine, and operative connections within the head between the control member and. said lifting device for transmitting the rotary motion of said control member to said lifting device to raise and lower the presserbar throughout its limits of movement.

5. The sewing machine defined by claim 4, in which the rotatable control member is mounted on the inner side wall of the sewing head.

6; The sewing machine defined by claim 4, in which the rotatable control member is mounted on the front wall of the sewing head.

CLARENCE S. BEST.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Herfurth May 9, 1911' Number 

